Globally, food and grocery delivery start-ups have recently increased their mega-rounds, especially in Europe, as pandemics have increased the number of people ordering online more than ever. This growth has led to increased volume across e-commerce platforms around the world.
While Relatively There was no action in Africa in terms of Inviting investment, MENA start-ups continue to be of interest, primarily in B2Be commerce... Today, these latest ones are from Egypt.
MaxABCairo-based startup servicing a network of traditional food and grocery retailers across Egypt has raised $ 40 million in Series A funding..
The company, which claims to launch in a new city every month this year, plans to expand its physical footprint throughout the Middle East and North Africa... in addition, MaxAB plans to hire more talent and expand recently launched industries such as new supply chains and embedded financial solutions...
Established in November 2018 Belal El-Megharbel And Mohammed Ben Harim, MaxAB platform manages procurement and grocery delivery to Egyptian shops..Store owners use the platform Purchase Request goods, deliveries or logistics to move goods, and access the customer support team.
“it’s not However Technology platform. We operate our own warehouse and our own fleet. And the idea was very simple. “CEO El-Megharbel told TechCrunch. According to him, small Egyptian merchants, who make up the majority of the country’s GDP, find it difficult to raise their inventories. on the other hand, Manufacturers also have to suffer very Serving a market like Egypt can be very expensive. In Egypt, over 400,000 small mom and pop stores sell 90% of the country’s groceries...
“We found that using technology to optimize this supply chain to ensure that the right amount of products are in the right place at the right time has a big role to play,” he said in 2018. El-Megharbel, CEO who left Careem, explained. Start MaxAB..
He calls Max AB Amazon for retail in the Middle East. There is a slight comparison. In emerging markets, it can be difficult to find a third-party e-commerce distributor to partner with. What is available is expensive or inefficient. That’s why MaxAB has its own infrastructure. The company does not build a warehouse from scratch.Instead, it buys them completely We will revamp them to suit your needs. MaxAB then uses internal technology tools to better manage inventory flows inside and outside the warehouse.
El-Megharbel was Max AB until last year I was focused About providing a single type of supply chain in one city.It was around Complete a $ 6.2 million seed round The app has 9,000 merchants. But in this new round, MaxAB has both infrastructure and technology. Multi-supply Chain and multi-city business..
The new development, with the growth period the company has experienced over the last two years, now serves more than 55,000 merchants and offers more than 2,000 unique products... in terms of Depending on the size of its staff, the company has more than quintupled to 1,600 and aims to increase that number.
When it comes to embedded financial solutions, MaxAB’s plan is to provide financial services to merchants. First of all, given the company’s database of merchants, MaxAB can predict their financial position. Next, in collaboration with banking and non-bank partners, MaxAB will provide these merchants with credit facilities and capital lending.
MaxAB’s Series A investment is one of the largest investments in this funding round across the MENA region.Impact investor RMBV Lead the round With participation from IFC, Prosperous venture, Crystal stream capital, Rise Capital, And Endeavor catalyst. Existing investors, Beko Capital And 4DX Ventures I also participated. The round brings the company’s total investment to date to $ 46.2 million.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the unique structure of the Egyptian economy. Hundreds of thousands of shopkeepers and small businesses have become our lifeline during the crisis,” RMBV Ahmed Badreldin’s managing partner said in a statement. .... “we happy Supporting visionary entrepreneurs who have created tremendously growing and transformative businesses that catalyze financial inclusion and job creation.. As MaxAB continues to grow and innovate, we look forward to supporting MaxAB in the next phase of development. “
The pandemic Drastically Increased adoption of technology has improved the unit economy of the company. As a market leader, MaxAB is leveraging integration Its location and scale In a sustainable way In the competition..
“The Middle East is competitive. Most of them are marketplace models, but they don’t control the supply chain itself. And what makes our model more unique is that we It means that you own an end-to-end cycle, which is painful we believe That’s what the industry, food and grocery B2Be commerce space needs, “said the CEO.
After expanding to MENA as a whole, do you think the company could move south to sub-Saharan Africa and face competition with Sokowatch and others??? ” In the near future, “El-Megharbel replied. “”Let’s go This market [the Middle East and North Africa] It’s about $ 200 billion a year. So, before you go to sub-Saharan Africa, there is a long way to go. “
MaxAB, the Egyptian B2B food and grocery delivery startup, raises $40M for expansion – TechCrunch Source link MaxAB, the Egyptian B2B food and grocery delivery startup, raises $40M for expansion – TechCrunch
